Palestinians were forcefully and violently removed from their homes in 1948 and have faced violence at the hands of the Israeli regime since its inception. In the past month, the escalations in violence have culminated into an immediate threat to the existence of the entire Palestinian population within the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, particularly within the Gaza strip. Israeli leaders have explicitly announced their intentions of “a Nakba in Gaza that will dwarf the Nakba of 1948” (Ariel Kallner, October 14th on X (Twitter)). According to Israeli leadership, the “entire nation” of Palestinians is “responsible” (President Yitzhak Herzog) and they have classified Palestinians as “animals”. Israel has cut off the supply of resources essential to life in Gaza - water, food, electricity and fuel. Without urgent intervention, this will result in the mass murder of more thousands, if not millions of Palestinians. Approximately 50% of the population in the Gaza strip are children.

Despite widespread evidence of Israel’s war crimes, the Australian government has maintained unwavering support for Israel. These war crimes include, but are not limited to: the use of White Phosphorous in residential areas, direct attacks against civilian objects, forcible population transfers, ethnic cleansing, and the starvation of civilians (Human Rights Watch; UN). Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s speech (16th October) reiterated that “Australia stands with Israel, and always will”. These statements were made after the UN referred to the Israeli military operations in Gaza as “ethnic cleansing” and “egregious violations of international law”, and called on the international community to mediate a cease fire to “do everything to stop this from happening”. Australia’s continued support of Israel in wake of these statements and the current evidence demonstrates a blatant disregard for the systems of international law and order, and aligns Australia with war criminals. We demand an immediate retraction of Australia’s support of Israel, and a condemnation of Israel’s military operations, which amount to war crimes.

Moreover, we demand that Australia sanction Israel in order to fulfil its duty to the international community and Palestinian civilians, as outlined by the UN, to “do everything to stop this from happen”. Australia has a history of imposing sanctions on states and individuals where “serious violations or serious abuses of human rights occur”, such as in Russia in response to its aggressions in Ukraine (DFAT, 2023). This legacy must be upheld. Supporting war criminals is unacceptable, and a breach of the trust of the Australian people in its government to uphold human rights standards and international law. Australia must set an example to its allies, and to the international community, to do everything in its power to put these horrific attacks to an end.

Australian people stand with the Palestinian community and the Jewish community who oppose these illegal and immoral acts. Anti-Zionism has wrongfully been confounded with anti-Semitism as an excuse to endorse Israeli aggressions. This petition rejects the notion that liberation of one group necessitates the oppression of the other and calls for an end to all oppression and human rights violations now. The gross violation of human rights occurring at present in Palestine lies in opposition to the values of Australians; a government which endorses a military campaign involving crimes against humanity cannot be trusted to have empathy for its own citizens.

This petition calls on the Australian government to immediately retract its support of the Israeli government in its perpetration of war crimes against Palestinians to prevent the impending massacre of more innocent people. Furthermore, we demand an immediate condemnation and issuance of sanctions against Israel until it ceases military operations in contravention of international law. We implore the Australian government to advocate in the international community for an immediate ceasefire to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.